Why Pro-Birth is Not Enough

In light of the draft of the opinion written about Roe vs. Wade we thought it was important to share a conversation we had during our Faith and Politics series.

One of the most divisive issues in America's Christian communities is the issue of abortion. We felt it was extremely important to cover this difficult topic because this matters to women, to families, and to us. As Sister Joan Chittister said, "I do not believe that just because you're opposed to abortion, that that makes you pro-life. In fact, I think in many cases, your morality is deeply lacking if all you want is a child born but not a child fed, not a child educated, not a child housed. And why would I think that you don't? Because you don't want any tax money to go there. That's not pro-life. That's pro-birth. We need a much broader conversation on what the morality of pro-life is." Pro-birth is not enough. We need to care for people from the womb to the tomb, to value all life, every color, nationality and gender, as made in the image of God. Today's episode, while not exhaustive, will focus on women, on thoughtfully considering what it would take to make abortion unnecessary, and what we can do to serve as compassionate people of faith. Shame is never a tool in our tool belt, but love is. As promised during the episode, here are a few videos, podcasts, and articles that will help you better understand the issue, as well as the history of evangelicals and single issue voting based on abortion politics.

https://www.npr.org/2019/06/11/731664197/apocalypse-now

https://www.facebook.com/1048186335224436/videos/581219142587470

https://www.ashabercrombie.org/old-fashioned-truth-telling/2019/01/25/the-stigma-shame-of-abortion

https://www.elle.com/culture/career-politics/a34339956/senator-gary-peters-abortion/?fbclid=IwAR2AL5hEOttv1EYk_xoFAl-R4ePiVpNiRMH7uIcRvLWUcYv3Ivq2hgR2Vyg

Read Ashley's full story of abortion by downloading the first chapter of her book for free: https://view.flodesk.com/pages/5dd813901bf52c00294a6826

Ashley's essay, "I am a Christian. I have had an abortion. I am pro-life from birth to death." https://ashleyabercrombie.substack.com/p/i-am-a-christian-i-have-had-an-abortion?s=r